The present invention relates generally to dispensing containers and, more specifically, to dispensing cap and related hinge constructions enabling accurately measured amounts of the container contents (in granular, particulate or powder form) to be dispensed from the cap.
Dispensing containers are, of course, well known and are used in many different industries for many different purposes. One such use is in the food industry, and a specific example includes jars and other similar containers which contain solid foods (such as spices) in particulate, granular or powder-like form. Typically, a measuring spoon or separate measuring cup is utilized in conjunction with the jar or container when accurate amounts are to be obtained.
The present invention eliminates the need for measuring spoons or cups by providing a hollow cap, which serves as its own measuring device, for use with an otherwise conventional container. While the incorporation of a measuring function into a container/cap construction for the discharge of desired amounts of the container contents is not new (see for example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 1,802,284; 2,804,103; 3,860,111; 4,613,057 and 4,635,828), the present invention provides improved and simplified structures for accomplishing this result, while generally retaining the desirable option of substantially unrestricted pouring and/or shaking (and the further option of sifting) of the container contents from the dispenser cap.
In one exemplary embodiment of the invention, a transparent plastic cap is provided which includes a top and a depending skirt. The skirt is divided into upper and lower portions by an internal, curved partition or weir panel provided with a weir aperture lying on one side of a centerline extending across the cap. The weir panel, in combination with the skirt wall and the top, combine to form a measuring chamber into which a desired amount of container contents may be poured via the weir aperture, as described in parent application Ser. No. 08/047,086, incorporated herein by reference. In the specifically disclosed embodiment of this continuation-in-part application, the dispenser cap includes a single door or lid formed essentially by the entire top of the cap, and pivotally secured to the skirt portion of the cap by a new and improved integral hinge. The free edge of the lid, which is diametrically opposed to the integral hinge, lies on the opposite side of the horizontal cap center line from the weir aperture.
Specifically, the hinge in accordance with this invention is designed to cause the cap door or lid to spring open upon initial release from the skirt rim, and upon further manual movement to a fully open position, to remain in the latter position without user assistance. The initial release position permits measured amounts of container contents to flow out of the measuring chamber without any further manipulation of the top by the user subsequent to the release of the top or lid from the skirt. Once moved manually to the fully extended or open position, unrestricted pouring is permitted without the user having to hold the top or lid in the fully open position.
The hinge includes a central tab portion flanked on either side thereof by discrete and independent leaf spring elements or hoops. Both the central tab portion as well as the hoops are thinned where they join to the cap to facilitate the hinging action, while the hoop elements are also bowed outwardly between the door and the skirt portion of the cap.
In an alternative and preferred embodiment, the above hinge construction is provided in a dispensing cap which incorporates a sifter as an integral part of the cap. More specifically, a plastic cap is provided which includes a top and a depending skirt. The skirt incorporates an inverted, partial dome-like (or partial upright bowl-shaped) sifter panel which is provided with a plurality of sifter apertures, but which is also formed to create a flow opening lying on one side of a horizontal center line extending through the cap. This flow opening is defined by a straight edge or chord on the sifter panel extending between two parts of the annular periphery of the skirt, and is referred to herein sometimes as a chordal segment-shaped opening. The sitter panel, in combination with the skirt wall and the cap top wall as well as the rotatable weir dam panel described below, form a measuring chamber into which a desired amount of container contents may be transferred as described further herein. A weir dam panel, having a curvature complementary to that of the sitter panel, is snap-fit onto the stationary sitter panel at a location coincident with a vertical center axis of the cap, such that the weir dam panel is rotatable about the vertical center axis, relative to the stationary sifter panel. This weir dam panel is provided with a shape similar to the sitter panel in plan so that a chordal segment-shaped weir opening established by a straight edge or chord of the weir dam panel may be aligned vertically with the similarly shaped flow opening in the sifter panel. In addition, a vertical tab is provided on the weir dam panel which extends upwardly to permit the user to rotate the weir dam panel to either of two operative positions. This combined weir panel/sifter construction is described in parent application Ser. No. 08/352,104, also incorporated herein by reference.
Thus, in its broader aspects, tile invention here relates to a container cap comprising a peripheral skirt; and a door or lid pivotally secured to an upper edge of the peripheral skirt by an integral hinge having a center tab and a pair of hoops laterally spaced from opposite sides of the center tab.
In another aspect, the invention relates to a container and associated cap construction wherein the cap is removably secured to the container, the cap comprising a peripheral skirt; and a door or lid pivotally secured to an upper edge of the peripheral skirt by an integral hinge having a center tab and a pair of hoops laterally spaced from opposite sides of the center tab.
In another aspect, the invention relates to a container cap comprising a peripheral skirt; and a door or lid pivotally secured to an upper edge of the peripheral skirt by an integral hinge, the integral hinge including first means for springing the lid to a partially open position upon release from the skirt and second means for maintaining the lid in a fully open position after the lid has been moved manually from the partially open position to the fully open position.
In still another aspect, the invention relates to a measuring/dispensing cap adapted for attachment to an open, upper end of a container, the cap comprising a lid and a peripheral skirt extending downwardly from the lid, the lid pivotally secured to the skirt; a sifter panel integral with the skirt and separating the skirt into upper and lower sections, the upper section including a measuring chamber and the lower section including means for attaching the cap to the open upper end of the container; and wherein at least the lid is provided with volume indicators; the sifter panel formed to provide a flow opening on one side of a horizontal centerline extending across the cap, the flow opening defined in part by a first edge extending parallel to and spaced from the horizontal centerline: and a rotatable weir dam panel overlying the sifter panel, the weir dam panel having a second edge which may be aligned with the first edge to enable substantially free flow of container contents through the flow opening; said lid pivotally secured to an upper edge of the peripheral skirt by an integral hinge having a center tab and a pair of hoops laterally spaced from opposite sides of the center tab.
Other objects and advantages will become apparent from the detailed description which follows.